Lis was coming out of the grocery store when she observed an altercation that seemed to be a sign of the times. A man was backing out of his parking space and apparently didn’t see a father and son walking behind him. The two were not in danger, but the father took offense at not being seen anyway and proceeded to yell at the driver. The driver took offense at the foul language and responded [...]
There isn’t one among us who hasn’t had to forgive someone for something small or large. None of us will escape this earth without doing so again. Of all the spiritual tasks God has assigned to us, forgiveness is of the highest order. No other quality speaks to love and grace with as much reason for it. Forgiveness can release demons, restore relationships, establish a base on which to build, and set a path for [...]
“You can do anything for 1 minute” is not just an easy phrase for parental encouragement, it’s a brick in the foundation of a child’s life. It isn’t long after babies become toddlers that parents should begin the long process of building character through self-discipline. Every era in childhood will present new opportunities for parents to develop in their children the ability to face the arduous ability of sticking with a task and persevering through [...]
Since we’re amidst the fall break travel season with Thanksgiving and Christmas both quickly approaching, we thought it’d be appropriate to talk about traveling with children. There are short and long trips on planes, trains and automobiles, but today we will mostly talk about long airplane trips . As you’ve no doubt experienced in your own travels, parenting skills get a serious wakeup call when kids suffer the gauntlet of cramped seating, long waits, time changes, strange food, disrupted sleep schedules, hurried and harried [...]
Every other week the Howards, Shelly and Rich, and the Marrs, Lis and Dave, trade off writing a OneFamily Letter with the intent to nudge, influence, educate, support and, in small part, come alongside women and men who are hard at work in the job of life. On the whole, life can be…well, complicated. They don’t teach parenting, marriage, or being an adult in school. It is true that a small misconception of how “things [...]
What kind of impact does having a longstanding group of friends have on a growing family? Enormous. Therefore, you should be intentional and proactive in building a community of like-minded friends. It is surprising the level of influence that your community of friends can have on your life, your style of living, your parenting, the quality of your marriage and its potential longevity, the behavior of your children, your health, your sex life, your business [...]
College – so far, and so near. Ignoring the politics of college and the debate surrounding left or right, we’re assuming you want your children to be as prepared for life-after-home as possible. And that might include continuing with a post high school education. Even though that might be far away, you may be already saving for that event just as you are parenting for that event. There’s a reasonable debate as to what’s appropriate [...]
Blended families have as much potential for individual and collective harmony and success as any other family, they just have some unique challenges to face. In this Letter, we’ll offer some perspectives on those challenges. It’s a big topic, so this Letter can’t and won’t be able to deal with the multitude of nuances that exist when two people come together, each with their own previously established lives. “But sail we must, and not drift [...]
(Today’s Letter is from Dave’s perspective) You can only teach what you know. You can only lead others to a destination you’re willing to go yourself. My wife offered this: “Dave, when you drink whiskey, you change. Not when you drink wine or beer, but since you don’t drink much hard liquor, when you have whiskey, you’re different. And I don’t think it represents who you are.” I struggled. Here we were at a nice [...]
"Dano, (Later – Shelli and Kevin) this is our yard. When people come over or drive by they’ll see this as the Marr house and they’re going to see the yard first. What kind of impression would they have of us Marrs if the yard was full of weeds and the grass, bushes, and trees were dead? They’d think that the Marrs don’t have standards of care. Maybe not in those words, but they’d think [...]